Tag: short-stories

Categories
Uncategorized

How I Passed the Hardest Level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test without Studying

Read this blog post in Easy English or Advanced English below.

Easy English

I hate studying.

I am a teacher, but I hate studying. I think that textbooks and flashcards are boring.

This was a problem when I started studying Japanese. I used some helpful sites to study for the JLPT, a Japanese language test. These sites were JLPT Sensei and Nihongo no Mori, and they were great. But I was still bored.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

I wanted to find a fun way to study.

I am always looking for fun study materials for my students. I want to use books that real English speakers wrote. These fun materials can:

  • Teach about culture
  • Teach vocabulary and grammar
  • Be interesting to read!
  • Help students have fun

I want fun materials for my students. Why don’t I use fun materials to study Japanese?

I asked my Japanese friends to tell me their favorite books, and I started reading. And I stopped using textbooks.

My dream was to read a science fiction book. Sadly, there weren’t science fiction books in easy Japanese. So I started by reading books for elementary students about daily life.

I had so much fun! And I took notes on the vocabulary and grammar in the books. My Japanese got better and better.

Slowly, I read books from different genres: historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery.

One day, I found a science fiction book for adults. And I could read it! Reading for fun helped me so much. I started reading easy books for elementary students, but soon I could read my favorite type of book. I reached my goal!

After reading many books, I took the most difficult Japanese language test: the JLPT N1. And I passed without studying. No textbooks. No grammar worksheets.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

This is the power of reading for fun.

Studying with textbooks is helpful, but the most meaningful learning is fun learning.

This is why I created Fun for Fluency. There are not many easy English stories that are fun to read. Most adults who learn English have to use children’s picture books. But Fun for Fluency has interesting stories in easy English.

You can read different English stories here. There are new stories every week!

Advanced English

I hate studying.

I’m a teacher, but it’s so hard to focus on studying vocabulary flashcards and doing reading practice exercises.

I’ve been teaching myself Japanese for years, and around the time that I was studying for the intermediate Japanese proficiency test, the JLPT N3, I used textbooks and study sites, like JLPT Sensei and Nihongo no Mori. They were useful and I recommend them to anyone studying for the JLPT.

But I wanted to learn with fun materials written by native speakers.

As an ESL teacher, I know the benefits of authentic materials. They help language learners:

  • Understand the target language culture
  • Acquire natural vocabulary and grammar in context
  • Access interesting content
  • Feel motivated

So why wasn’t I studying with authentic materials myself?

When I began studying for the JLPT N1, the most difficult Japanese proficiency test, I decided to do away with study sites for the time being and looked instead for Japanese books that sparked my interest.

I am a HUGE science fiction lover, but unfortunately there weren’t any science fiction novels that were at my level when I started studying for the N1. (This is one of the reasons I created Fun for Fluency, so that English learners can have more access to interesting stories at a comprehensible level.)

I started by reading novels for upper elementary and middle school students that featured topics of daily life. These were much more interesting than practice JLPT articles I had been reading, and I was able to take notes on the vocabulary and grammar I was encountering in the novels and learn them naturally.

As my reading progressed, I began branching out into different genres. I read historical fiction, fantasy, and mystery.

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

And finally, the day came when I was able to read a science fiction novel written for adults. I couldn’t believe that I had gone from reading an elementary-level book about school friends to a classic novel satirizing the public’s belief in aliens.

And after being able to read even novels for adults, I passed the JLPT N1 on my first try. No studying.

Reading for fun is what got me there.

There is no problem with studying, and it is at times necessary to learn a new concept. But I 100% believe that the best kind of language learning is learner-initiated and authentic.

This is why Fun for Fluency is so effective. There is such a shortage of interesting materials for beginning learners of English. Fun for Fluency is a growing database of engaging, easy English stories for adolescent and adult learners. It is the gateway to being able to read authentic materials while having fun.

Check out our different English learning stories here. Stories are updated and added frequently, so visit again for more resources!

Categories
Uncategorized

See the World: Part 9

See the World (An Easy English Story): Part 9

Cancer looks like mold.  The cancer cells are a deep red, like poison berries. On the berries are gray and green moldy spots.  Fuzzy shapes climb in and around the patient’s brain.

Neil can see where all of the cancer cells are, but there is a problem: There are many cells inside the brain, and it would be dangerous to do surgery. Ibsituu Umar, a doctor from Mayo Clinic who uses the lenses, works next to Neil.  Before the surgery, she told Neil that she was nervous to use the lenses on someone with cancer. It might not be successful. But Dr. Umar wanted to try.

“Incredible,” Dr. Umar says. “I’ve never seen cancer before.”

“It looks like mold, right?”  Both Neil and Dr. Umar are wearing their lenses. Neil hopes that Dr. Umar has the same opinion as him.

“I actually think the cancer cells look like moss.”  Dr. Umar finishes typing data about the cancer cells into the computer. She pushes her glasses up her nose and sighs.  “We can try.”

We.

Finally, someone can see what Neil sees.

During the surgery, Dr. Umar works carefully. She stays focused on the size, shape, and place of the cancer cells. They finish their part of the surgery in just an hour. Neil turns on the computer, and it begins the genome editing. Neil and Dr. Umar sit and watch the cells start to change shape and color.

Neil enjoys working with Dr. Umar. She is only 38 years old, but she has three PhDs. Neil senses her love for medicine. While the computer works and the cells change color, Dr. Umar says, “The cancer cells are beautiful. I know they are bad, but I think the different patterns look like jewels. Nature is amazing.” Neil doesn’t agree, but he is happy that Dr. Umar can at least see the cells.

After seven hours, Neil and Dr. Umar finish. The genome editing was successful. Dr. Umar’s eyes are filled with tears. “We can change the world,” she says softly.

Part 10>

Categories
Uncategorized

The Cold: Part 1

The Cold (An Easy English Story): Part 1

My heart is beating fast.

I wait alone in a room.  There are newspapers on the wall and a big leather sofa in the corner.

I sit on a small, uncomfortable chair by the door.

Waiting for that door to open.

“Ms. Ari Brooks?” a woman says while she opens the door with her cherry red nails.  “Mr. Jones… did not come to the office today.  Can you come back tomorrow for an interview?”  The receptionist stepped through the door.  She looks annoyed, but she politely smiles.

How can this happen to me again?

“Actually,” says the receptionist, “Many of our staff are not here today.  It’s January, so maybe they are sick or have the flu…”

“I understand,” I say.  “Please ask Mr. Jones to call me when he feels better.”  I try to smile, but I want to cry. 

I leave the newspaper office and get on the bus.  I want to buy a car, but I don’t have any money.  I am 22 years old, but I live with my parents.  I graduated from college with a degree in journalism, but I can’t find a job.

My sadness becomes anger.  Why didn’t Mr. Jones contact me to reschedule the interview?  Even if he is sick, he can still send a short email.

This is not the first time.  My interviewer last week did not come either.

People can be so rude.

The bus ride home is quiet.  The only other person on the bus is an elderly woman with a cowboy hat.  She gets on the bus at one stop and gets off at the next.

This newspaper company was my last interview appointment.  I applied to twenty companies, got rejected by eighteen, and got an interview for two.  Both interviewers had to “reschedule” for an unknown reason.  This one didn’t even come to the interview.

I look out the window of the bus.  In Clayton, there is a small city and a lot of farmland.  Cows stand close to each other in the field beside the highway.  It is hard to count them in the snow, and their black spots look like many watching eyes.

Screech!

The bus stops suddenly, and my black bag flies off the seat.  Many cars behind us honk their horns angrily.  A woman next to us rolls down her window and takes out her cell phone, recording a video of the bus driver and yelling horrible things.

The bus driver, a man with a large belly and a small gray moustache, does not respond to the woman.  He rushes down the bus steps and runs to the side of the road.

The bus driver is tapping something on the ground and shouting.  He calls for help and takes off his jacket, laying it over something I cannot see.

The angry woman from before runs over and begins to make a phone call.  She squats on the ground and covers her eyes while talking to the person on the phone.

I wonder if there was a car accident.  Is there a dead animal or a dead person on the side of the road?  The woman is crying now.  She hands her phone to the bus driver, who continues talking to the person on the phone. 

Thinking it is probably a person who died in some accident, I stand up and walk to the front of the bus to see what happened.

Most people do not want to see a dead body.  I don’t want to see it either.  But if I want to be a successful journalist, I need to get used to seeing terrible things sometimes.  It is our job to tell the world about these terrible things, hoping that the world can learn how to be more careful.

As I get closer to the front of the bus, I see a head of blond hair next to where the bus driver is standing.  A man, in his late forties.  His face is paler than his hair.  He looks like he was in the cold for a long time.  Did no one notice him until now?

I stand up on the bus seat to see more of the accident.  Was he riding a motorcycle?  Was there a helmet or a bike on the side of the road?

From his pale face, a pale neck appears.  Then pale shoulders.  Then a pale chest.  The rest is covered by the bus driver’s jacket.  Two blue-white feet stick straight out from the jacket.

This man died naked.

Sirens cry in the distance.  Soon, two police cars and an ambulance show up.  A police officer interviews the bus driver and the woman with the cell phone.  Another officer takes pictures of the body on a camera.  She calls to the other officer and points to a tree next to the road.

Among the tree roots that stretch out from the tree and disappear into the snow-covered ground, two legs appear from behind the tree.  Like the other body, the legs are naked, and they do not move.  Unlike the other body, both legs are dark purple.

Part 2>